The problem with Google+: It doesn’t answer the ‘Why’ question

Google+, the search giant’s latest shot at a social network, has been available in beta form via invitation for almost two weeks. It has generated an impressive amount of buzz among those who’ve been able to secure access. Most of that buzz has been positive.

But it should also be noted that many of the people currently on Google+ are early adopters and techies, the types who jump in feetfirst and embrace the joy of being on the cutting edge. But not everyone who signs in thinks it’s so wonderful. Take, for example, science writerKayt Sukel, who also blogs on chron.com as a City Bright. She grabbed an early invitation and, after a few days of use, seemed mystified, posting this to Twitter:

As nicely executed as Google+ is, Sukel’s comment shows it faces a real problem if its goal is to become the dominant social network. It must give users a compelling reason to abandon the investment they’ve made in existing social networks. A clean interface and cute animations may not be enough to lure users away from communities where they’ve already laid down solid roots.

In other words: If Twitter or Facebook works for you and your friends, why should you shift your attention from there to Google+?

Google+’s inability to answer this “why” question is also one reason I’ve not yet written a full review of the service. I don’t feel like I’ve got a handle yet on what Google+ is trying to be. Maybe it’s because Google+ is a work in progress – company executives say there’s a lot more to come, and all the pieces may not be in place.

That said, here are a few thoughts on Google+’s pros and cons.

• Circles – Google+ lets you sort your contacts into groups it calls Circles. You can create new Circles to hold friends you want to put in specific categories. Essentially, these are nothing more than lists, but the process of adding friends to a Circle is kind of fun, which makes the whole scenario seem like something new and different. You find people who have a Gmail account or a Google Profile, then drag and drop them into an assigned Circle.

You can create new Circles, as well as use a Circle to block users. When you go to share information on Google+, you can assign it to specific Circles. For example, if you only want your family to see something, you can limit an item’s visibility to that particular circle.

• Hangouts. So far, this is the most interesting part of Google+, and what may be its “killer app”. Hangouts lets you do a group videochat with up to 10 people. You can see and talk to each other, as well as share a YouTube video with the group. I’ve done this a few times and it’s a lot of fun.

Of course, it requires that you have a webcam available and a decent amount of bandwidth. I’ve been on relatively high-speed connections each time I’ve participated, and the experience has been quite good. I’m curious what it might be like on a slower connection.

• Stream. Here’s the center of Google+, analogous to Facebook’s Wall or Newsfeed. This is where you’ll see what your friends are sharing or saying. It suffers from the same problem that bedevils Facebook – you see a lot of things shared by your friends that may not interest you, as they share items shared by their other contacts.

You’ll also see comments made by people who aren’t in your Circles, as they comment on items posted by your friends. In the image above, you can see an item posted by my buddy Ed Bott, followed by comments from people I don’t know. While those comments are just fine, that’s not always the case.

At the moment, Google+ lacks the ability to mute users from appearing in your stream. You can block a user, but that’s a nuclear option, walling them off from you completely. Google+ needs a way to “prune” the stream that’s a little more gentle.

• Profiles. Google has offered its Profiles feature for some time, but it’s become a crucial part of Google+. Your profile must be public before you can participate in Google+, and at the end of this month, Google will delete all private profiles. disable the ability to make a profile private (My profile was private until I decided to participate in Google+.) This makes a certain amount of sense, but it feels Draconian. It will be interesting to see if there’s a backlash when privatized profiles are suddenly revealed. My guess: There won’t be.

I plan on doing a full review of Google+ in an upcoming Always On column. In the meantime, I’d like to hear from those who have gained access: What do you think of Google+? If you’re on Facebook or Twitter, do you prefer it to either of those services? Or are you struggling to justify why it should become a part of your social networking world?